Let's Talk About Museum Branding
If you've read these blogs in order, you've seen why you should think about your exhibit as a brand, how to build a basic brand with key questions and design tips, and seen a ton of examples of what's possible for your title design. There are people whose careers are built around branding and marketing (I should know, I am one!) but remember it doesn’t have to be hard.
Just keep it simple and consistent - and hire a museum graphic designer if you can. My Exhibition Branding Package offers not just a great title design, but all the marketing assets you’ll need for the duration of your show. It’s a one-stop-solution to get design off your to-do list and leave you with assets that will engage your audience and take your marketing efforts from good to great.
Don't think twice about design
“Your work on the exhibit was remarkable! Every day we receive comments on the design work. Thank you for helping our vision come to light.”
Vulcan Park & Museum in Birmingham, AL booked an Exhibition Branding Package for their 2020 exhibit Right or Privilege: Alabama Women and the Vote.
In their package they received:
Exhibition logo (with 2 variations)
Type and color recommendations
Digital Images for social media and web use
Print-Ready Advertisements
Brochure
T-Shirt Designs
Postcard Design
With these assets, the team at Vulcan Park & Museum were ready to promote their exhibit and engage with visitors. Even when 2020 dictated most of their programming had to be done remotely, they had everything they needed to create new graphics and stay on top of engagement without having to think twice about design.
What could you do with more time?
You know that time is money. With the investment in an Exhibition Branding Package, you can save time on future marketing and education efforts.
My package is designed specifically for museum professionals to have more time planning and promoting your museum with the least amount of effort.
What you won’t be spending all your time doing:
Converting logo files from print to digital formats (and back)
Educating visitors on what’s on view
Creating in-gallery signage or materials with no guidelines or template
Learning design software to create invitations for the exhibit opening
Going back and forth with printers on bleeds and trim lines
Starting from scratch with every social media post
Instead you can spend your time:
Engaging with visitors in your space
Planning great events around your exhibit
Connecting with donors on public response to your museum and ways to continue their support
Connecting seamlessly with media outlets to promote your museum
Knowing you have a toolbox of graphic assets to create any material for your exhibit
Trust Me, Your Exhibition Needs a Brand
The visual footprint of your museum’s exhibition is most likely the first point of contact your audience will have to the show. It could be seen on a poster, an ad in a community paper, or on the title wall in your space. It’s important that the graphic design and language is clear and that it communicates the tone of the show.
That’s branding!
Having a clear branding for your exhibition can catapult the interest you want your audience to experience leading up to an opening. It can also communicate context for what the information is and where it’s from. When used in the physical space itself, this branding can act as a gallery guide to lead the viewer through the room and establish boundaries for the exhibition with signage or wall colors.
In the past, you may have styled your exhibition title in a nice font, printed the vinyl for the wall, and didn’t worry about being consistent in any programming or marketing material. Taking a few extra steps and thinking about your title as a logo and your exhibit as a small brand will give your efforts more power for their punch and help your audience remember and engage with your museum.
One-Stop Solution to Promote Your Exhibition
Beyond just a logo, my Exhibition Branding Package will provide you with all the assets you need to implement clear and engaging branding everywhere you have a presence. Rest easy knowing the designing is off your to-do list and your museum will look as good as the work you’re doing.
Do you feel the weight beginning to lift off your shoulders? Wouldn’t it be great to mark all this designing off your to-do list and never open Photoshop?
This package is a perfect fit if you:
understand that good design is crucial to good communication
don’t have the tech savvy or the time to navigate design software and printing specs
could accomplish so much towards your organization’s mission if you just had all the designing off your to-do list
are ready to invest in design that supports your mission, connects with your audience, and looks as good as the work you’re doing
Examples of Museum Branding
The Whitney has one of the most distinct and recognizable brands due to its use of stark white and thin lines.
Statement from the Museum: "The [brand] is a distinctive and inventive graphic system that literally responds to art—a fundamental attribute of the Whitney since its founding in 1930. This dynamic identity, which the designers refer to as the “responsive ‘W’”, also illustrates the Museum’s ever-changing nature."
See the full brand case study from the design team at Experimental Jetset.
See more examples on my Museum Branding Examples Pinterest Board
Let's Talk About Museum Exhibition Branding
Just like it’s important to have a clear and recognizable style for your museum, it’s just as important to brand individual exhibitions and events. It's how your audience will recognize your efforts and messaging specific to the exhibit.
The visual footprint of your exhibition is most likely the first point of contact your audience will have to any show. They could see it on a poster, an ad in a community paper, or on the title wall in your space.
Having an exhibit brand can do quite a bit of heavy lifting in communicating what the exhibit is about and appealing to those that might be interested in coming. So, it’s important that it's clear and communicates the tone of the show.
Having a clear branding for your exhibition can jumpstart interest leading up to an opening. It can also communicate context for what the information or subject matter is and where it’s from. When used in the physical space itself, this branding can act as a guide to lead the viewer through the room and establish boundaries for the exhibition with signage or wall colors.
Examples of Exhibition Branding
This digital ad for the exhibit Right or Privilege? Alabama Women and the Vote shows the exhibit's main title design, two colors, and photo treatment. The exhibit explored the history of the 100+ years of voting rights activism in Alabama.
The brand was intentionally designed to combine old and new. A bold serif font was paired with a clean sans serif in the title. Colors in the campaign ranged from purples and golds used by the early twentieth-century suffragettes to the greens used during the 1960's Civil Rights initiatives. Colors were overlayed on black and white images to create a vibrant relationship between history and today.
See the full exhibit brand and more supplemental marketing material.
What Does It Look Like to Have an Exhibit Brand?
Let's imagine: Your museum is working hard to organize a new exhibition to open next year. You have all of your research and artifacts collected. Funds have been raised and final loans are being negotiated. Some of your biggest donors are on board for this, so you really want it to connect with your community and be a success.
Now think about how you want to spread the word. You’ll probably want to start early with teases about the show. Maybe run a few social media ads to raise engagement. Then you might put some posters up around town a couple months out and run a radio ad. An email blast to your members will invite them to RSVP to the opening. Postcards in the mail will reach snail-mail lovers.
And all of that is just leading up to the opening. The potential for your audience to hear about the exhibition from different sources is pretty big, and exactly what you need to drive interest. The best thing you can do is consider branding early on so that every message your audience gets is clear and consistent.
The Benefits of Museum Exhibit Branding
In the same way that it's important for your museum's brand to be engaging and recognizable, it's equally important for the exhibits and events in your space to also have a distinct voice.
A clear and consistent brand will:
1. Create a clear story for your audience to engage with
2. Consistently promote your museum in a professional way
3. Help spark interest by visually describing the tone and content of your exhibit
4. Save you time! In all of your marketing pieces, you will never need to start from scratch to create a new promotional graphic.
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PS – I offer longer quote times for budget approval processes! Request a quote today and reserve a spot for a future exhibition.